154 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving
Related Activities
- Bi-Wordal [22]
- Combo Chatter [24]
Procedure
- Distribute the handout, review it with the participants, and answer any questions
they may have. - Have someone in each group write the problem on a sheet of flip chart paper and
underline the action verb and the object (for example, “How might we reduce
littering?) - Tell group members to take turns selecting a relational word and inserting it
between the verb and the object. - Have the entire group use the combination as an idea stimulus, write down any
ideas on Post-it®Notes, and place them on a flip chart for evaluation. - Instruct the groups to repeat Steps 3 and 4 and continue this process until time is
called.
Debrief/Discussion
One of the best features of this activity is its ability to create unique stimuli using related
problem words. The simple juxtapositioning of a preposition between two related stimuli
helps provoke associations—often visual ones—that two related words together might
not produce. In this respect, Preppy Thoughts has the potential to create an experience
similar to one using unrelated stimuli. After the participants have finished using this
exercise, you might ask them if they experienced visual images more than they normally
do with other approaches.
Also consider having participants debrief using the following questions:- What was most helpful about this exercise?
- What was most challenging?
- What can we apply?
- How would you rate the value of this exercise to helping us with this issue?
- Will this exercise be helpful in the future for other sessions?
- What did you learn?
- What will we be able to use from this exercise?
- What ideas were generated, and which ones were most interesting?
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